Learning How to Live at Age 131
by JediTears09
Summary: What happens after Vash brings his wounded brother home at the end of the anime series? Is Knives capable of changing? Rated T just to be safe. Vash x Meryl, implied Millie x Wolfwood, and Knives x… I'm not telling you that! Read it to find out!
1. Homecoming

What happens after Vash brings his wounded brother home at the end of the anime series? Is Knives capable of changing? Vash x Meryl, implied Millie x Wolfwood, and Knives x… I'm not telling you that! Read it to find out!

I do realize that the actual story line is continued in Trigun Maximum, but I haven't read that, and I still wanted to write this. I'm sure it is drastically different from what actually happens in the manga, so please know that I am basing this solely on the anime! Also, although Vash and Knives are listed as the main characters- this is not a yaoi pairing, the story just happens to focus mostly on them. That being said, please enjoy!

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Chapter One: Homecoming

It was a hot, clear day when Vash the Stampede was once again seen in the village. Meryl and Millie were just celebrating the completion of the new town well, when Millie cried, "Look!" gesturing at a point on the horizon where a dark figure obscured the setting sun. Meryl shielded her eyes, daring to hope. But the form stepping in and out of the shadows of the outskirts of town was not clad in red. It trudged slowly down the street, a bloodstained body slung over its shoulder.

"No…" Meryl whispered, a gloved hand pressed over her mouth.

But then sudden relief washed over her as the figure drew close enough to see the sunlight shining on the unmistakable blonde hair of Vash the Stampede.

The two girls extracted themselves from the merry townspeople and hurried over to the porch of their rented house. Vash was gently depositing the body onto the worn wooden boards. He looked up at their approach, and smiled. A tired smile, but real.

"Vash, what… what happened? Is that…" Meryl gasped as she took a good look at the man lying there. His face was so familiar, and yet so very different. There was blood smeared in his pale blonde hair, and several bandaged wounds were visible on his limbs, but he was breathing.

"Yes, this is Knives." Vash winced and clapped a hand over a bullet hole in his shoulder. "My brother."

Millie looked between the two men, astonished. "Knives is your brother? You're so… you're so different. But why… why was he trying to kill you? Why did he kill… so many…" She didn't have to say the name - they all knew who she meant.

Vash looked weary, and said, "I promise, I'll tell you the whole sad story later, but right now… is that doctor friend of yours still in town? It sure would be a shame if he died, after all that trouble I went to to save him."

Meryl nodded, and taking a last long look at Vash, turned and ran across the street to fetch the elderly physician.

_He was alive, and that was enough for now._

_. . ._

A few hours later, they were peacefully drinking tea at the kitchen table. It was almost surreal to Vash, how comfortable and normal this felt. This was how it was going to be from now on. Peace, and love, and tea, and donuts, and nothing else. His gun was still holstered at his hip, but he cheerfully thought to himself that he might never have to use it again.

Vash had reluctantly allowed the doctor to bandage his injuries, blushing a little. They all pretended that they didn't notice his scarred body, but Vash could see it in their eyes. The old man looked amazed that Vash was still alive, Millie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and Meryl wiped a tear from her eye before quickly volunteering to make them some tea.

Knives was lying on the sofa, unconscious. Vash's makeshift bandages had been replaced with clean, white strips of cloth. The doctor left a bottle of medicine on the table, instructing them to apply a little to the wounds every time they changed the bandages.

Vash almost laughed when he set Knives down on the sofa. He looked so peaceful, so childlike and innocent. It was as though the last few hundred years had never happened.

Vash sighed and finished the last of his tea. The whole story, _their_ whole story, had been told, and Millie and Meryl were sitting there, dumbstruck. It was a pretty unbelievable tale, to be sure. Granted, he might have elaborated and trimmed a little of the more embarrassing content, left out a little about Rem for Meryl's sake, but the basic plotline was still intact. While he was speaking, the girls kept looking nervously over at the sofa, as if the very mention of his brother's name might wake him up and start him killing again.

But Knives slept through the story, and through the night, and through several of the next days. The girls took turns changing his bandages- looking pointedly at Millie, Vash offered to do it himself, but Millie shook her head. "He needs a woman's care, Vash. I don't mind." Once when Millie was dabbing medicine on Knives' healing shoulder, he opened his eyes for a moment, but a second later he was fast asleep again.

. . .

Knives was dead. Surely. Vash had shot him. His own brother shot him, again. And again. And again. And yet, he didn't feel dead. He felt awful. Pain ricocheted across his body like steady gunfire.

And then there was a light; sound and feeling came rushing back to his body like a train wreck. His eyes flew open, long enough to see a woman holding him. But then the darkness dragged him back.

_A woman?_ What was he doing with a woman? Why was that filthy, weak creature touching him? And with that concerned expression. Disgusting.

Disgusting, but proof that he was still alive. So Vash hadn't been able to kill him. Surprising. It was against Vash's nature to kill, true, but during the battle with Legato, Knives could almost _hear_ the hatred rolling off his brother.

His brother. Inconceivable that two so very different souls should share the same blood. And yet, here he was, alive. He wondered if it was that very bond of brotherhood that had saved him, that had stopped Vash from finishing him.

No, Vash's idiotic ideals had stopped Vash from killing him. The fact that they were brothers was irrelevant, and always would be. Vash had severed that bond the minute he chose _that woman_ over his own brother.

. . .

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Another chapter should be coming soon! Also, if you have a better title suggestion, please for heaven's sake, tell me. I'm terrible at titles. ... Thanks for reading!_


	2. Magic Stew

_A/N: I forgot to say in the first chapter, but obviously this fanfic contains spoilers for the anime. Just saying. Happy reading!_

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Chapter Two: Magic Stew

. . .

Several days later, Knives awoke to an empty room. Painfully, he managed to drag himself into a sitting position. It hurt like hell, but he had to get out of there.

Just then, Vash came through the door, humming merrily, balancing three bags of groceries. Seeing Knives attempting to stand up, he dropped the bags on the kitchen table and hurried over.

"Woah there, brother, take it easy," Vash said concernedly, grabbing the unsteady man's arm to keep him from falling.

"Don't call me that," Knives spat at him.

Vash's smile remained, but his eyes dimmed a little. "Calm down, okay? You're in no danger here. Might as well stay until you can stand up by yourself."

Knives shot an icy look at Vash, but allowed himself to be resituated on the couch.

"Now you stay here and rest," Vash said in a motherly way. "The girls will be home soon. I'll ask them to make something good for dinner tonight."

Knives said nothing.

. . .

Knives woke again a few hours later to a heavenly smell.

Vash trotted over almost as soon as he had opened his eyes. "So you're awake again, sleepy-head? Feeling any better?"

Knives gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Meryl's making her special stew. It's so wonderful, I'm pretty sure it's magic. That ought to do you some good."

"You really have gone soft," Knives said disgustedly.

Vash didn't get the insult. "Yep, it's nothing but the easy life for me from now on."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Knives barked, causing Millie to jump and scuttle over to stand next to Meryl at the stove. Turning his head to look at Vash, he said again, "Why does she keep looking at me like that?"

Vash leaned in towards his brother so the girls wouldn't hear, and said quietly, "That preacher you were using in your little game. Wolfwood. He was very dear to Millie, and he's dead because of you."

"Ha," Knives sneered, but he was quiet for a while after that.

. . .

A few minutes later, Meryl carefully carried a bowl brimming with stew over to the sofa. "It's hot, so be careful, alright?"

Knives resisted the urge to kill her, and accepted the bowl.

It was hot, flavorful, and, well… wonderful.

The others sat at the table chatting casually. Every few minutes, Meryl got up to refill Knives' bowl. Millie went to get water, and brought back a glassful for Knives, too. She set it on the coffee table, and went to go sit back down.

"Thanks," Knives muttered.

Millie jumped at the sound of his voice, and hurriedly sat next to Meryl, her face a little pink.

Vash smiled quietly to himself.


End file.
